


The Retainer's Resolve

by Mars_McKie



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anal Sex, Bad Touch Chancellor, Biting, Imprisonment, M/M, Mild Gore, Mind Games, Non-Consensual Touching, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 07:24:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21370375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_McKie/pseuds/Mars_McKie
Summary: Set in the alternate ending of Episode Ignis – what if Ignis was on the frame that Prompto was secured to?After the events in Altissia, Ignis awakens as a prisoner in Zegnautus Keep. With the Ring of the Lucii still in his pocket and Ardyn offering a way to keep Noctis safe, Ignis resorts to desperate tactics to keep the Ring from enemy hands.
Relationships: Ardyn Izunia/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 1
Kudos: 61





	The Retainer's Resolve

**Author's Note:**

> I've only been writing this fic on and off for about a year and I've finally got it finished!!
> 
> Thank you so much to [invisibledeity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisibledeity/pseuds/invisibledeity) for the conversations we've had regarding this fic- Ignis being a much more on-the-ball prisoner than Prompto, and the idea that Ignis and Ardyn play mind games and talk like they're from Film Noir!
> 
> A reminder that this is not a happy fic and Ignis has bad coping mechanisms.

_“Permit me to make a suggestion: rather than follow this flotsam and float away to a watery grave, why not come with me? What do you say?”_

*

Ignis groaned as his consciousness slowly returned to him. A dull, familiar pain which he contributed to a concussion throbbed through his skull. He tried to move his arms, but couldn’t. He shifted minutely to assess his position and his body ached all over. He was secured to a Y-shaped frame, his cuffed wrists on either side attributing to the ache across his shoulders. Bars across his waist held him in place and though his legs were free his soles only just touched the floor. The frame kept his head tilted forward and added to the ache in his neck. The only thing that hinted at how much time had passed was the fact that his shirt and trousers had dried after the downpour in Altissia. Strands of his usually neat pompadour fell about his face and he felt the absence of his spectacles, the loss of them alarming.

He tried to remember the circumstances that had led to his incarceration. He had woken up after being knocked out at the Altar of the Tidemother, pinned down by Magitek Soldiers. Noctis was unconscious, Lunafreya was dead, and Ravus had been sent flying by some kind of magical blast. Ardyn had offered Ignis a way out, and Ignis took it with the hope of drawing the Imperial Army away from the defenceless Prince. Ardyn led him and the MTs into a dropship away from the storm and Noctis, then... nothing.

It was likely he had been knocked unconscious for the journey to... wherever he was now, and vaguely assessed that two concussions in a short space of time probably wasn’t good for him.

Ignis slowly pried his eyes open, tilted his head up as much as the frame would allow and observed his surroundings- he was in a cold cell with a wall of bars a few metres in front of him, beyond which he could make out a long corridor of similar cells, the familiar chattering of daemons drifting from them. A row of shelves on either side were laden with an array of sharp instruments (he didn’t want to think what they might be used for). He couldn’t turn his head enough to see what was behind him.

Raising himself up on tiptoes eased the ache across his shoulders slightly, though the pain came back double when he needed to lower his weight back on his raised arms again and the feeling returned. He grimaced, unable to find any small comfort in the position.

“Where are we?” Ignis pondered aloud, mostly for his own benefit than anyone else’s, so he was surprised when a voice replied.

“Oh, you have to ask? Why, Zegnautus Keep, of course.”

Ignis grunted as Ardyn emerged from the shadows beyond the iron bars. “Chancellor Izunia!”

“Come now, surely we’re on first name terms by now?” Ardyn slid a key card through a reader and the machine beeped, allowing Ardyn to swing the door open and step into the cell. Ignis’s eyes followed as the key card disappeared into a pocket hidden in the heavy grey coat; a chance at escape if only he could get his hands on it. “After all we’ve been through, Ignis.”

Ardyn stepped forward into the cell. Even being up on his tiptoes, the Chancellor was still taller than him and dominated Ignis’s field of vision.

“Why did you bring me here?” Ignis asked. 

“You offered yourself freely,” Ardyn replied, his eyes widening in mock surprise. 

“Ah,” Ignis said, remembering Ardyn’s words on the altar. “I believe the offer was to join you, and yet you have me incarcerated.”

“Forgive me for not immediately trusting your intentions,” Ardyn said idly.

Ignis inwardly cursed, his mind casting around for another option that he could use to get free. If this was Zegnautus Keep then -if the intelligence learned from Insomnia’s spies was correct- this place was in Gralea, the seat of the Empire. Had Ignis potentially been brought here to be interrogated for information about Noctis? The alternative was to face his execution. Neither option bode well for him.

“You said this is Zegnautus Keep; can I expect to be greeted by Emperor Aldercapt?” Ignis asked. Any possibility of getting out of his cell or using his considerable influence on Aldercapt would be an opportunity he would be foolish to pass up.

“I’m afraid the Emperor is currently indisposed,” Ardyn sighed, his voice dripping with fake concern. Another option taken away from Ignis. “An unfortunate matter, it requires me to deal with matters usually fulfilled by his excellency.”

“Or the perfect opening for you to take the seat of the Empire,” Ignis wagered to guess. He knew from experience of seeing the King’s council in Insomnia that people in positions of power were rarely satisfied and always sought more. If that proved to be the case here then manipulating events to his favour could prove simple.

“It’s fun watching the way your mind works, trying to figure me out,” Ardyn grinned. “But alas, the Empire will soon have served its purpose.”

Too simple to be true. Ignis’s delicate prying exposed, he tried a more direct approach. “Then why are you after Noct? For revenge?”

“In a sense, yes, but my aims extend beyond the boy. He is more of a means to an end,” Ardyn admitted. Finally, Ignis seemed to be getting somewhere, but before he could press the matter Ardyn turned the tables back on him again, moving so his face was inches from Ignis’s own. “You took my offer of joining me- I won’t say I’m not surprised. I wonder; what is it you hope to get out of this union?”

Ardyn set his hand on Ignis’s hip, and though Ignis cringed at the touch a more pressing issue made itself known. A metal object digging into his pelvis.

_He still had the Ring of the Lucii in his pocket._

On the altar, the Ring had fallen from Noctis’s hand when Ardyn had left him to attack Ravus. Ignis had grabbed it with the initial thought of fighting back, but reconsidered at Ardyn’s offer, instead hiding it away in his trouser pocket. 

Ignis did wonder what would happen if Ardyn were to get his hands on the Ring- Would he try to wear it to command its power? Would he keep hold of it for the sake of keeping it away from Noct? Would he destroy it? 

He knew the Empire already had the Crystal in its possession, so it could be possible that Ardyn or someone else intended to use the Ring to gain the Crystal’s power. From stories Ignis had heard of those who wore the Ring who were not worthy, that could work out in his favour. However, there was no way to guarantee the Ring would be put on.

Unable to read Ardyn’s intentions, Ignis decided it would most likely to be in his best interest to not let Ardyn find the Ring when it could cause more problems for them down the line. 

His hand still at Ignis’s hip, Ardyn seemed to interpret his silence as interest, his other hand reaching up to brush lightly against Ignis’s side, the touch oddly intimate. An idea formed in his head for how he could draw Ardyn’s attention away from accidentally finding the Ring.

Ardyn smiled. “What would you do to see your Noctis safe?”

With a clear goal in mind, Ignis looked into Ardyn’s eyes with renewed determination. “Anything.”

“So ready to needlessly sacrifice yourself...” Ardyn said. He leaned forward so that his lips nearly touched Ignis’s ear, Ignis’s vision obscured by wine red hair, and murmured, “I have been watching you on your journeys; such a pretty young thing, forever a servant to the crown...”

Ardyn’s tongue flicked out and licked along the rim of Ignis’s ear, causing Ignis to blush in humiliation, a blush which somehow deepened in shade as Ardyn cupped his dick through the front of his slacks. His hand was so close to where the Ring was nestled, pressing into the soft skin between his hip and groin.

“I’m sure I can find some way in which you can serve me,” Ardyn hummed.

Acting instinctively, Ignis raised a leg and hooked it around Ardyn, pulling him in close- he was no stranger to using sex as a political tactic and if it took getting his trousers off to get the Ring safely out of the way then so be it. Ardyn laughed in surprise as Ignis fixed his face with desire.

“My, my, I was not expecting this...” Ardyn said, his smile all teeth. “Have you really been so lonely on your journey?”

It had been some months since Ignis had last allowed himself to indulge in sexual pleasure, but Ardyn did not need to know that. “The offer you present is intriguing and you are an attractive man.”

“Yes, it would be useful to have a servant going forward in this uncertain time,” Ardyn hummed. His hands wandered up to Ignis’s collar. “One who could prove themselves loyal is such a rarity in these parts.”

Ardyn started popping open the buttons on Ignis’s shirt, working his way down to his navel. _Now the belt,_ Ignis thought as he drew breath, but instead Ardyn ran his hands up Ignis’s bare torso, his bare fingertips tracing up his abs to pinch at his nipples. Ignis cringed and squirmed as Ardyn worked the nubs into hard peaks.

“I wonder...” Ardyn hummed. “Your allegiance lies with the boy, yet you can’t possibly understand what that means- what path the gods have set for him. Would you continue leading him down that path even if you knew it would lead to his own demise?”

“What?” Ignis asked, struck by Ardyn’s words. Then he remembered the vision he had received at the altar on the death of the white dog- it had been fleeting, but he recalled a voice speaking about how the Chosen King must pay the blood price and sacrifice his life to banish the darkness, and cast out the ‘Usurper’. It had been so confusing, and Ignis had been too focused on keeping Ravus from killing Noct to pay the vision the attention it deserved. If the vision had been real then it did not bode well for Noctis. “What do you know of the prophecy?”

Ardyn grinned as he pinched the nipple hard and Ignis hissed, though Ardyn’s eyes were harsh. “I bet you searched all the records you could get your hands on for any scrap of information that would help your precious Noct, though there would have been little details kept hidden, lest the Chosen King learn too much of his fate.”

Ignis disliked Ardyn’s use of the Prince’s informal nickname, but everything he said rang true. Ignis had indeed researched all he could about the prophecy while living in Insomnia, though it always seemed there was information being withheld from him that he couldn’t gain even with his access to archives as advisor- references to an event from the year he had been born that had been hushed up, and not even King Regis, when Ignis had asked him about it, would talk about the prophecy in detail.

In his distraction, Ardyn had detangled himself from Ignis’s leg and bent down to remove his brogues and socks, setting them to the side. Ignis was impassive through this as he wondered if he should question Ardyn further, if he really knew those details which pertained to the prophecy, the tips of his toes touching the cold, concrete floor. His breath hitched as Ardyn ran his hands up his legs (once again brushing so close to the Ring) as he stood back up.

“Ardyn,” Ignis breathed.

“You make such delicious little noises,” Ardyn murmured. “I wonder what you will sound like when I take you?”

As Ignis went to contest this, Ardyn dipped his head down to the crook of Ignis’s neck and bit at his pulse point, causing him to gasp out with small pained noises and he forced himself to change these to noises of pleasure, controlling his reactions as Ardyn sucked marks onto his neck. 

Ardyn pulled back and smirked. “Exquisite.”

His hands went to Ignis’s belt, tugging it loose so he could undo his trousers while he nipped at Ignis’s collarbone. 

Ignis breathed heavily, willing himself to remain rational. As Ardyn slipped his thumbs into the wristband of Ignis’s underwear and tugged down his trousers and underwear in one go, Ignis lifted his hips and legs carefully to assist in their removal. Cool air assaulted his genitals and the hair stood up on his legs. With two careful steps his trousers and underwear were removed and Ardyn threw them to the side. The Ring was safely out of the way.

This time when Ardyn stood up his hands brushed over bare skin which rose in goosebumps at the touch, his breath sighing through Ignis’s pubes as he passed and Ignis was suddenly aware of the precarious position he had manoeuvred himself into- completely bare from the waist down with only his words to defend himself.

He needed to be very careful in how he proceeded otherwise this would not end well for him.

“You are quite gorgeous, Ignis,” Ardyn sighed. Ignis’s heart pounded under the attention, his nerves starting to catch up with him.

Ignis took a short, steadying breath and unfortunately Ardyn noticed with a smile, his eyelids heavy with lust. “You worry yourself so much over your Prince, but have you stopped to consider the position it puts you in?”

“I am here to serve you, am I not?” Ignis countered. His world had been reduced down to his own body and Ardyn’s satisfied face filling up his vision. He hated those amber eyes with a burning passion, a feeling which he latched onto as fuel to get him through this.

Ardyn’s hand came up to grasp Ignis’s jaw, forcing his face up and pressing his lips to Ignis’s. Their teeth clicked and Ardyn’s tongue hungrily pushed its way into Ignis’s mouth, exploring at will. 

Their bodies pressed flush together, Ignis could feel Ardyn’s clothed erection against his own dick, a gasp pulled from his mouth as Ardyn grinded them together. Ignis was doing his best to act like he was interested, to pull off the lie he was creating, and his dick thankfully twitched at the attention. 

“Hm,” Ardyn hummed. “Such noises...”

Ignis noticed that was the second time Ardyn had commented on the noises he produced and made a mental note that Ardyn liked him being vocal. Anything that would help him see to Ardyn’s pleasure in this arrangement could be instrumental in ensuring his eventual freedom. Ardyn repeated the movement and Ignis allowed a moan to slip past his lips. This was clearly the right thing to do as Ardyn’s smile turned predatory.

“You would make such a delightful servant,” Ardyn murmured. “So eager to please whoever you deem your King.”

“H-how would you have me serve you?” Ignis asked, his chest heaving.

“You can start by lifting your legs for me,” Ardyn said, tapping Ignis’s left hip. Ignis balanced himself on one foot to raise his leg around Ardyn’s waist, and was surprised when the man slipped his hand under Ignis’s arsecheek, hoisting him up so that Ignis could bring up his other leg to link his ankles around Ardyn’s back and take the weight off of his aching wrists. It was an odd position to be in to call this small assistance a blessing, particularly with what Ardyn surely had lined up for him.

Ardyn’s hand dipped down to cup Ignis’s arse, freeing up his other hand to finger around Ignis’s puckered hole. 

“Ah! When- did you lubricate yourself?” Ignis gasped, unaware that Ardyn had done so but the finger ghosted around his rim so easily, teasing as it slipped slightly into his hole then continued to massage his entrance.

“Oh I’m full of surprises, as you shall learn,” Ardyn smirked, his face inches from Ignis’s own and drinking up his every expression.

“Then teach me,” Ignis moaned.

Ardyn’s finger pushed past Ignis’s entrance, pumping in and out and Ignis could only squirm so much in his position, attempting to fuck himself on the digit. A second finger soon joined, thrust in without warning and Ignis gasped at the stretch, the fingers scissoring and crooking just so to hit that bundle of nerves deep within him. Ignis closed his eyes as he moaned at the attention given to his prostate, barely noticing when a third finger was added to stretch him wide.

The preparation was quick but thorough and the fingers were removed, only to be replaced moments later by the head of Ardyn’s cock nudging against his entrance. His breath shuddering, Ignis forced himself to open his eyes but cried out in horror- 

Ardyn’s face was ashen with black ichor dripping in his skin, the same ichor darkening the whites of his eyes and making his irises shine bright gold.

At the same time Ignis cried out, Ardyn’s other hand disappeared from Ignis’s arse to instead brush over his side so that the only thing holding Ignis up were his ankles around Ardyn’s back.

“If you are to serve me, you should know who your King is,” Ardyn said, the ichor stretching his smile wide.

“You’re a daemon?” Ignis gasped, trying to shrink away against the contraption restraining him, but as he did so the grip from his ankles slipped, causing him to impale himself on the head of Ardyn’s erection and he cried out again.

“In a manner of speaking,” Ardyn said, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. “Allow me to regale you with a tale. In an age long past, an incurable scourge ravished mankind.”

Ignis scrambled to readjust his grip around Ardyn’s waist but each time his legs slipped he sank a bit more onto Ardyn’s cock, making him feel every inch as it penetrated him and he couldn’t shake the feeling that the lubricant was that same scourge that ran down Ardyn’s face.

“In Lucis lived a saviour that could cure the afflicted,” Ardyn continued. “His body would come to host myriad daemons, that countless lives be spared.”

Ignis was losing in both his mental struggle to keep up with the conversation and his grip, his weight once more placed on his wrists as he was stuffed to near bursting.

“I suppose I never revealed my proper name, so allow me to introduce myself,” Ardyn said, and with a cry of anguish Ignis finally bottomed out, Ardyn’s balls to his arse. “Ardyn Lucis Caelum.”

It was an effort to talk around the pain, but Ignis managed to gasp, “The Founder King?”

“If only,” Ardyn sighed. “No, that would be my dear brother, who snatched the throne and cast me into exile.”

Ardyn gave a short thrust and Ignis bounced painfully, clenching his fists so that his fingernails dug into his palms. If Ardyn was speaking the truth then that would make him over 2000 years old- could the scourge really do that to a person? Ardyn smiled a quietly amused smile.

“I’ve never been called ‘Your Majesty’ before. Would you do me the honour?”

If ever there was a point where so much weighed on Ignis submitting or standing his ground he couldn’t remember, but in his horror his previous submissive strategy was forgotten as he stammered, “N-no!”

“No?” Ardyn repeated.

It took all of his courage to muster up the strength to say, “My allegiance lies with the True King alone!”

“Then I have no use for a disobedient servant,” Ardyn said, looking mildly disappointed. Before Ignis could respond, Ardyn quickly dipped down and pulled out so that just his head was sheathed, then rammed back in and Ignis gasped out in shock and pain. Ardyn set up a brutal pace, hammering Ignis into the frame and the bars across his waist and wrists rubbed despite Ignis’s best efforts to keep his weight off them. At some point Ignis screwed his eyes tight closed and when he opened them again the scourge had vanished from Ardyn’s skin.

“Though the King of Kings is granted the power to banish the darkness the blood price must be paid.” Switching to more leisurely thrusts, Ardyn started talking again and Ignis did his best to focus. Anything to divert his mind from the sensations overwhelming him. “A True King born who will dispel the limitless shadow, and with him the line of Lucis shall come to an end.”

“No!” Ignis cried, though the vision he had seen meant Ardyn was likely speaking the truth.

“The Gods take a high toll of those who would resist their fate,” Ardyn said, a hint of sadness in his tone.

“And you would know?” Ignis chanced to ask. He knew he had hit a nerve as Ardyn scowled and thrust harshly. If Ignis’s neglected cock, bouncing between the two bodies, twitched at all it was involuntary as Ardyn’s cock brushed up against his prostate. Tears ran down Ignis’s cheeks and soon his wrists were rubbed raw. Blood ran down his forearms and Ignis choked at the lump forming in his throat.

It seemed like an age passed until Ardyn finally came inside him, his thrusts stuttering and he bit down on the pulse point on Ignis’s neck, most likely leaving a deep mark. Ignis shuddered at the feeling of being filled up -_please don’t let it be scourge_\- and cringed as Ardyn pulled out. Ignis’s legs gave out as Ardyn stepped back, dropping from his waist and the black fluids from inside Ignis ran down his thighs. Bile rose in his throat at the sight and he fought hard to not throw up.

“Such a beautiful picture you make,” Ardyn said, tucking himself back into his trousers. “As luck would have it, your beloved Noctis is on his way to save you as we speak. Should I leave you like this for him to find?”

“No... please!” Ignis choked out. “Not like this...”

“Hm, you’re such a tease when you beg like that,” Ardyn smiled, and stepping forward he grasped Ignis’s cock, a fraction too tight to truly be pleasurable and Ignis moaned pitifully as Ardyn stroked him, wringing out his climax efficiently and Ignis spilled his seed on the floor.

Ignis’s head fell forward, and thankfully Ardyn moved to pick up his underwear. Exhausted, Ignis managed to step into it along with his trousers, and Ardyn tucked him in and zipped him up. A satisfied smirk crept over the man’s face.

“This should help expedite the process,” Ardyn said, and in a heart-stopping moment he patted the Ring of the Lucii through Ignis’s trousers, once again nestled at his hip. “I got my ring, and now Noct will get his. Do remember to give it to him.”

Ardyn turned to leave and Ignis choked out a broken sob. Ardyn knew he had the Ring. His entire plan had been all for nothing.

On hearing his sob, Ardyn turned to regard him once more. “I told you before- the game’s up, my boy.”

Ardyn chuckled low as he left the cell and Ignis heard his footsteps recede down the hallway. Alone again, Ignis cracked and the tears fell freely to join the pool of drying cum at his bare feet. He tried to rationalise to himself that it hadn’t been an entire waste- he now had a much better idea of the prophecy, what was required to banish the scourge and how to make Ardyn pay for his part in the events in Altissia. He certainly didn’t want him to get away with his actions here either.

The problem was that using the Ring would cost Noctis his life. His breath came short at the realisation- while the world meant nothing to him, Noctis was his whole world and he would have gladly given his own life to save Noct’s, but a part of him knew that Noctis would never allow that.

With a gasp Ignis did his best to blink away the tears. He still needed to get out of this cell and from what Ardyn had said Noctis was on his way to him at that very moment. 

He didn’t really know how else to explain away his dishevelled manner of dress, or maybe the others would know better than to mention it, but then Ignis saw something that filled him with dread. It might have been a trick of the light, but just above his waistband where his shirt was still open he saw his skin was ashen with black lines spreading out like a spider through his veins. 

“Noct...” Ignis whimpered.

His blood ran cold and his head flew up, searching the corridor for his friend and willed him to arrive faster. Ignis was unsure of what path he would choose for Noctis, he only knew one thing- 

He didn’t want to die without him.


End file.
